Need help building a new computer

[isotope]

Hey everyone. I have no idea about how to build a computer so I was wondering if you guys could help me abit. So far I've decided two things:

Processor : Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 Conroe 2.13GHz 2M sharing L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor

Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard

Hard drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 ST3200826AS 200GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache Serial ATA150 Hard Drive

And then ... I'm stuck for the rest.

Any ideas about what I should get? I'm only going to be using this computer for some gaming (CSS, BF2, WC3 and some others), schoolwork and some graphic designing. My budget is around $1200 in Aussie dollars. By the way, I need everything a computer has apart from the monitor.

Ta everyone.

[Chewy]

you should get 2x 1gb ram sticks, ofc.
do you plan to overclock at all? that could help find the right ram for you.

What grafics card are you going to be using and do you plan on getting a dx10 card?

[isotope]

No overclocking for me. As for graphics card, I have no idea.

[Chewy]

I am guessing since no overclocking a hiper580 watt psu at newegg costs $89-$99 and would give you room from future cards, its a good price for a good quality psu. (the lifeline of your system).
are you in the USA?

[isotope]

I live in Australia but using Newegg as a reference. I might check out that Hiper PSU.

[Chewy]

take a look at my build, you can cut out some stuff like cpu cooler (should get on eventually).
http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=19044

you reall should get 2 gigs of ram, especially for the newer games if you want to play them at higher settings. you could get 2x512mb duel channel sticks and upgrade with another 2x 512 of the exact same brand later, but in about 1 year games might start wanting more ram like 4 gigs to run smooth on max settings.
also if your budget can fit it you should look at a Perpendicular Recording Technology harddrive, and the 16mb helps aswell (faster read write speeds).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148140

what size type of monitor are you going to be using?

[pt]

geat a seagate 7200.10 instead of a 7200.8

[Chewy]

yo pt, you think he will be ok with 2x 512mb ram to start? to keep him in budget for now?

[pt]

Originally Posted by Chewy

yo pt, you think he will be ok with 2x 512mb ram to start? to keep him in budget for now?

even for games 2x512mb are fine, i have that and most of the time in games i have about 300mbs free, and by only buying 2x512 you save money to buy some better ones

about the gfx go nvidia and install gelatto for better performance while doing gfx work, a 7600gs or gt will be fine
the case (just falled in love with it) i would go for the aerocool aerocube

ps: don't forget the matx motherboard
ps2: Aerocool does some other pretty amazing cases aswell, go check them here: www.aerocool.com.tw

[Judas]

Dont forget about the 7900gto Good performance/price ratio

[pt]

Originally Posted by Judas

Dont forget about the 7900gto Good performance/price ratio

good option also

[isotope]

Oo thanks guys. I did a bit of revising and looking around after all your suggestions and chose:

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 Conroe 2.13GHz 2M sharing L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor

Mobo: GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 Socket T (LGA 775) Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard

Hard drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

CD/DVD drive: Pioneer Black 16X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 16X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 5X DVD-RAM DVD-ROM 40X CD-R 32X CD-RW 40X CD-ROM 2M Cache ATAPI 16X DVD±R DVD Burner With 5X DVD-RAM Read

RAM: Kingston ValueRAM 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 533 (PC2 4200) Dual Channel Kit System Memory

Graphics card: XFX PVT71GUQL3 GeForce 7900GT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card

Case: XION XION II XON-103 Black SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 450W Power Supply

PSU: Yet to choose. :P

Do you guys think this is compatible/good ? So far, this is about the best rig I can make up - without straining my budget too much. But my budget is -abit- flexible, I guess.

PS: My rig should be similar, but probably not exact, as what is above. It's just that my computer thingy might not stock everything I need, like the case for instance.

[AshenSugar]

2gb ram, newer games use more and more ram, bf2/2142 are ram hogs, cdo2 is a ram hog, unreal engine games can be ram hogs(depends on the cache setting in the config files)

honestly, i would get the cheapest 2gb kit you can, newegg has one for around 170bucks or less

[isotope]

I was thinking of upgrading to 2 gigabytes later, because my motherboard has enough DDR2 slots. For now, I'm trying to get the best performance/ price ratio for most of my parts.

[Chewy]

shit just hit backspace on my keyboard. well heres some other ram options not sure what the diff is exactly on faster mhz ram but I can guess write read speed? Well people say ddr2-800 is all you really need. heres some other ram options with an extra $50 price tag.
Crucial Technology Ballistix 3-3-3-12 2.2 volts ddr667
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820146568

Mushkin 3-3-3-10, 2.1-2.3volts @ ddr2 667
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820146092

Corsiar xms2 4-4-4-12, 2.1 volts @ ddr2-800 I would say go with this since you dont plan to overclock and its just an extra $40
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145040

just some ideas, someone said eairlier you should get some good quality ram with the money your saving from buying 2 gigs.
more choices:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...ubCategory=147

[isotope]

Hmm ... which one would be more beneficial overall? A good graphics card or a good amount of RAM? I'm asking because I'll get a decent graphics card for now, then upgrade more RAM when I have extra money.

So rather than getting the 7600GT, I'll get the 7900GT. But I'll be stuck with a gigabyte of RAM for now.

[Chewy]

humm so you would get 2 gigs and the 7600gt, but if I were you I would go 1 gig good quality ram for now and a 7900gto theres a thread on here about the 7900gto and overclocking, its an amazing overclocker and that thread should have easy steps to follow, so you get the best bang for you bucks.

I'm not sure how the 7600gt and 7900gt perform nexted to each other.

[isotope]

Thanks very much Chewy! :lol: I'll probably finalise this soon, just need to convince my parents to give me a bit more money.

[isotope]

Ok, time for another question. For my mother board, it says:

"Notice: Only DDR2-800 memory supporting JEDEC approved 1.8V operation with timings of 5-5-5 or 6-6-6 is supported on Intel Desktop Boards based on Intel 965 Express Chipsets."

I can't seem to find whether my RAM has the 'JEDEC approved' part of the 1.8V operation or the timing on it. Any ideas ?

[Chewy]

I forgot about that but from my store, they say the new ds3 motherboards will not have a prob with 2.1 volt ram booting because it has the new bios (f6). are you going to a store near your house? if they set it up, they will fix that for you and your ram will work fine. If you get the mobo delivered to your house and it has the old bios you cant "post" boot up with ram over 1.9 than after you boot up into bios with a low volt ram you can set the ram volts to 2.1 elc turn off put in your high volt ram.

I think that corsier ram is 1.9 volts

[isotope]

Well, I'm not sure if I understood that but would my RAM work?

[Chewy]

as long as your motherboard was updated to the newest bios, or you had a extra stick of ddr2 ram laying around that was 1.9 volts. are you building this yourself?

[isotope]

Thankfully no I'm not building it myself.

[Chewy]

Ram will be easy enuff to put in when you get more.
good lck hope it works out

[AshenSugar]

well i dont do intel, to many artificialy forced platform upgrades(they make a new chiu buy a new board)

with amd you dont need pricy ram, 533 or 667 is plenty, but from what i read about core2 it likes fast ram, so duno what to tell you :P